During the 80s and 90s of the last century, BBS (or Bulletin Board System) were very popular. They were nothing more than software that allowed a group of users to connect to each other, via a terminal emulator program, to exchange messages, files, or play online. BBS quickly became the meeting point for communication enthusiasts and software developers. They were the first public file exchange systems, and in a way they are the precursors of web forums and social networks. Do you know the history of BBS?
A long time ago, about five years after the appearance of the IBM PC, Bulletin Board Systems (BBS, or Electronic Bulletin Board System) began to become popular. In the mid-1980s, what we now know as “the internet” was just beginning to become known, although it functioned basically as a research network and for military uses under the name ARPANET. The general public did not have access to it, and the “web” as we know it was born in 1989 and took about 10 years to become a popular service. But before that happened, many users still connected to each other - sharing files, images, or messages - thanks to the BBS.
How a BBS Worked
A BBS was nothing more than a computer program. Its basic function was to receive messages from other computers over a telephone line. To connect to a BBS, users only needed a computer, which didn't necessarily have to be a “PC compatible” (you could use a Spectrum, Commodore, or almost any computer you had), a terminal emulator program, a modem, and - obviously - a telephone line. There was no need for an ISP (Internet Service Provider) or anything like that; you simply configured your computer to call the BBS's phone number.
The first BBS was the Computerized Bulletin Board System, or CBBS, created by Ward Christensen on February 16, 1979, in Chicago (USA). Although some had many lines, the norm was to have just one - most were maintained by an enthusiast who received no financial benefit from the activity - and users had to “queue up” waiting for the previous user to disconnect to get access. This situation led most BBS to implement a credit system to limit the time available to each subscriber. Each day, each user was automatically given a number of credits that allowed them to connect, for example, for ten minutes. Extra credits could be obtained by uploading files or images, introducing new users, etc.
The calls, despite being made and received by a computer, were billed by the telephone companies using the same rate table as for normal calls. This made a lot of sense, since the modem's job is to convert the zeros and ones that the computer “understands” into tones that are transmitted over the telephone line (and at the other end does the reverse), so to the service providers it made no difference from “normal” voice calls.
This meant that if the BBS you were going to connect to was in another country, the phone bill would surely be astronomical, so it was wise to look for one that was physically close to your home. To give you an idea, the modems available at that time worked at 300, 1200, 9600, or - almost at the end of the golden age of BBS - 19200 baud. At those “speeds,” you could send or receive between about 30 and 1900 characters per second. The connection time needed to download a file - even though in those years everything was measured in “kilobytes” - could be enormous.
Fido and Fidonet
Fortunately, around 1984, “Fido” appeared, a program for exchanging information and files that made it possible to automate this task. Since it didn't require the user to be at the computer to “browse” the BBS options, the connection could be scheduled to take place during the nighttime telephone rate, saving a lot of money. Soon, thanks to the interest of BBS owners in this system, Fidonet was born, which would quickly become the largest network for exchanging information and files between BBS. The drop in hardware costs also helped many users set up their own BBS.
We must not forget that in those years, data storage was quite problematic, because almost all computers used floppy drives with 180 KB of capacity (or a little more), which forced the system operator to manually swap disks all the time. The advent of hard drives at reasonable prices made everything much easier. Years later, the appearance of multitasking operating systems like Amiga OS, OS/2, Unix, or Windows provided a new boost, since a dedicated computer was no longer needed to run a BBS. The increase in modem speeds also helped this phenomenon, which reached its peak between 1992 and 1995.
In a way, BBS were the precursors of web forums and social networks, as well as services like email, FTP servers, etc. Although many individuals maintained their own BBS as a hobby, companies quickly began to see the system's potential. Some offered support to their customers and employees, while others displayed their catalogs and allowed remote ordering. Commercial BBS also appeared.
The Commercial Era
AOL, for example, started with a single product: an online service called Gameline for the Atari 2600 video game console. But in 1985, it launched a paid BBS for Commodore 64 and 128 computers, originally called Quantum Link. It was hugely successful, and in May 1988, it expanded its services to Apple II and Macintosh computers. After changing its name to America Online, in August 1988, it launched a service for “PC compatibles.” On AOL, users could find online games, files, email, news, etc. In 1992, AOL launched the Windows interface, while the market began to fill with competitors. Indeed, the popularization of computers made BBS “were a good business,” so other BBS appeared, such as Prodigy, CompuServe, and GEnie, which began to “steal” users from AOL.
The Decline and Legacy
During the 80s and 90s, BBS were very popular. They became the meeting point for communication enthusiasts and software developers. They were the first public file exchange systems, including the first shareware programs or the first computer viruses. Many curious people, who today are called - in the correct sense of the term - “hackers,” began their adventures in that era and communicated with each other through BBS. The decline of these sites began with the rise of the Internet. The possibility of accessing computers all over the world at the same cost as a local call made many abandon BBS and get onto the web.
In a few years, Bulletin Board Systems practically disappeared, and by 2000 there were about the same number of users as in 1985. Today, a few still survive, such as the Spanish Eye Of The Beholder BBS, but mostly as a curiosity or a meeting point for friends who have been gathering in them for decades. Have you ever connected to one of these systems?
